Victor Davis Hanson on What Holds Nations Together This Memorial Day

Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words

Jennifer Hayne

News Commentary, News

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 23 May 2026

⏱️ 82 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Political dysfunction in California, the collapse of communist regimes, the meaning of Memorial Day, and the importance of the citizen soldier all point back to the same question: what happens when leaders become detached from the people they govern? Cuba remains impoverished decades after revolution while political elites continue to prosper. California continues to struggle with homelessness, public disorder, and governance questions while national ambitions grow among its leadership. At the same time, debates over fairness, political incentives, and institutional trust continue to reshape public life. Memorial Day serves as a reminder that America’s military tradition was built around citizen soldiers, ordinary people who returned to the communities and institutions they defended. Strong societies depend not only on economic and military strength, but on civic responsibility, accountability, and citizens who remain invested in preserving what they inherit. WHERE TO WATCH: 👉Don’t miss out on Victor’s latest editions of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words” by subscribing to The Daily Signal today. You’ll be notified every time a new piece of content drops: https://www.youtube.com/dailysignal?sub_confirmation=1 👉 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2iOoN0xoOoSNvDFlpLLYGY?si=5a9f369acc874c6e 👉 Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/victor-davis-hanson-in-his-own-words/id1566731706 👉 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@victordavishanson7273?sub_confirmation=1 👉 Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/VictorDavisHansonInHisOwnWords?e9s=src_v1_sa%2Csrc_v1_sa_o 👉 Victor’s website: https://victorhanson.com PROMOTIONS: 👉If Victor Davis Hanson is must-watch for you, The Signal Sitdown belongs in your feed. Bradley Devlin delivers long-form conversations on Washington’s biggest fights—from an unapologetically conservative perspective. Subscribe now!https://www.youtube.com/dailysignal?sub_confirmation=1 👉Watch The Tony Kinnett Cast NOW! LIVE weekdays at The Daily Signal and wherever you get podcasts: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjMHBev3NsoV3kHckydY58R7TaYsizl45v 👉America is worth preserving. Do your part and act now by going to https://www.heritage.org/beautiful 👉Use code VICTOR at the check out and get 35% off your order at https://www.purehealthresearch.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:51.4	World War II, we ended up with 12.2 million soldiers.
0:57.6	People forget that about the United States.
0:59.3	Russia had 240 million people, Soviet Union, and they only did 200,000 more, 12.4.
1:06.3	So for a country of about 145 million, 50 million to get into uniform, 12 million.2. That's amazing.
1:15.6	And of course, the sadness of it is, if you look at the people that actually, A, were deployed overseas,
1:20.6	and then were deployed in combat units, we were very sure, we were exhausted.
1:24.6	So we took those soldiers in the Pacific and they landed on Normandy.
1:29.2	They got killed finally about the time they got to Germany in May. And if they were in a B-17 or B-24, their life was not very long.
1:37.2	Yeah. So on Memorial Day then, we are celebrating all of those killed hello and welcome to Victor Davis Hanson in his own words
1:57.7	this is our Saturday edition and in the middle segment, or one of the middle
	...

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